Goodbye to July

Wow- where has the month gone? August is going to roll in tomorrow and I feel like I've barely started summer. Of course we've had a cool and wet July (compared to some years) so thankfully it hasn't been our typical hot and dry summer.

August starts the school season (kids start Aug. 14th here), and it's the month to get all fall merchandise and supplies ordered, AND get ready for the fall maze season.

Today reminded me of fall because of an unusual foggy morning, so I took some photos at the farm gate to show you how thick the fog was. The Visitors Center barely showed up being a light gray color, but the yellow orange pumpkin blossoms glowed like little lights through the fog.

I was out early to get ready for the filming of a TV commercial, plus a motor coach bus tour of grandparents and grandkids was heading our way.

The fog lifted in time for the video shooting, and the bus passengers were thrilled to be filmed "getting off the bus" as part of the commercial. Of course just a few shots of everything will be used, but they thought it was fun to be included.

Remembering my Blessings

"I'm too blessed to be stressed."
That's my new motto after hearing it from motivational speaker Jon Gordon. He was a speaker at our Maize family conference last February that we weren't able to attend- and I'm just now watching the DVD of the conference...
This last week was a whirlwind of activity with groups here, orders to fill, and the phone to answer, all while Patty was on vacation and out of the office. So of course I lost my voice, and came down with a summer cold...
But hey, Patty and my voice are back... Plus I have family, food, and freedom, so I'm blessed.
I thought this photo summed up my thoughts- the flag flying freely and the buffalo resting by the Visitors Center. All is calm and well on the farm.
Actually, it has been very hot and dry this week. The pasture is getting dry when you look at the contrast of the dark buffalo against the golden grass. We could use some rain.
With this hot weather, haying season is in full swing in the neighborhood. Here's a photo of my Dad cutting through our farm with two wagons of hay bales to stack in my brother's pasture next to us. These bales will be used for winter cattle feed in six months.
I'll try to remember that cold winter chill the next time I step outside into the current hot wind...

Thinking about Agriculture

The Bison Farm Visitors Center was used on Monday for a "think tank" meeting of Farm Bureau people, trying to figure out ways to best promote agriculture and the crops we grow for consumers.

So since I'm thinking about agriculture products this week, here's a photo of another crop grown in our area. This farmer was baling alfalfa this morning.

The 1 to 2 foot alfalfa is cut above the plant's crown when the crop is blooming with its purple flowers. It is raked into windrows and sometimes raked again to allow air to dry the plants out. The baler drives over the windrow, picking it up and rolling the dry plants into a tight round bale, and automatically tying baling twine around the whole bale to keep it together.

When the bale is finished, the back end of the baler hydraulically opens up and kicks the bale out. Alfalfa bales usually weigh around 1500 lbs. This dried alfalfa is a perennial plant that can be cut three to five times during the growing season, depending on the rain fall, and it will be used as winter protein feed for livestock.

Our bison like to eat these bales too because they eat the fresh version in their pasture.

Here's a snapshot of our growing calves coming up to the water tank. Except for the two younger calves, they look like 8-10 year old kids- and act like it too. They now eat grass and drink water from the tank, and play as a group- but run to mom when she calls, and to raid her for a satisfying chug of milk.

It's been a while since I mentioned the pumpkin patch, so here's a snapshot of the first blossom I noticed this morning when I turned on the drip tape system on zone 1. The plants are growing vines and slowly taking over the alleys between the rows. We'll be into fall harvest before we know it.

Oh yeah, its Farm Diary Day...

As I drove down the Visitors Center driveway this morning, I noticed that the cows had pushed the portable water tank up against the fence, bowing out the wire.

That caused a big gap, just enough for a calf to walk through, especially if it gets trapped between a couple of cows and the water tank.

I took some photos of the pretty front flowers around the Visitors Center when I got out of the car, thinking I could talk about them for my farm diary today.

Dyllan came in early this morning to do some wall painting in the gift shop, so we chatted a minute after I walked in the door. I asked him to turn off the electric fence and move the water tank back into the pasture.

As I said that I looked out the window and there stood SanDiego, the youngest calf, in the middle of the driveway with a look of surprise in her face. She got pushed out and didn't know what to do next.

"Let's go get her in," I said as I reached for the camera that I had just placed on my desk.

"Oh yeah, it's Farm Diary Day..." was Dyllan's reply. So here's the "story of the day"...

Finishing Kansas Wheat Harvest 2008

Loren and Dad finished wheat harvest Tuesday. Mom usually rides along in the grain truck to the elevator at least once during the season, so here's a photo documenting their 62nd wheat harvest together.

And here's a photo of a neighbors field that says it all- a full bin of wheat in the combine, a full truckload and a harvested field of bright yellow straw.

Kansas farmers have had some bad weather and luck with the past few wheat harvests, so wonderful to get a good crop off the field this year.